In the blink of an eye, half of the month of July has passed and before we know it, the PSLE oral examinations will be here. With about 4 more weeks to go, it is about time that students start preparing for their oral examinations!
Communication is a vital skill for everyone, irrespective of what path they choose in life. This fact is evident from the importance given to the oral exam. They make up about 15% of the student’s marks. It is a part where most students think that they will do well, however, it is unfortunate that they end up finding it a challenge to perform well. But fret not! Everything can be solved by proper preparation and practice.
So, how can you help your child to prepare for the oral examination? Here are some tips that may help your child improve his or her grade:
Understand the exam (structure, weightage, marks, things examiners notice)
The examination has two components – Reading aloud and stimulus-based conversation. The reading section carries 10 marks and the conversation section carries 20.
Focus points:
Reading Aloud – to assess pronunciation, articulation, fluency, rhythm, and expression.
Stimulus-based Conversation – to assess a student’s ability to give a personal response to a visual stimulus and engage in a conversation on the relevant topic given.
Help your child to understand what the examiners are looking for and practise focusing on that. Try to practice using past year examination questions to help your child prepare for their stimulus-based conversation.
Practise Regularly
Your child can’t start preparing only a few days before the exam and magically become fluent in English. Like every skill, speaking eloquently and fluently requires constant effort too. Make sure your child has a practice schedule planned, and they follow it every day. Practising reading out loud and engaging in conversations can help them get more comfortable using the language.
Pronunciation, Articulation, and Rhythm
These factors are vital for both the reading and conversation sessions.
Due to the pandemic and the mask requirement, the expression of the candidate won’t factor in the evaluation. So, the other areas need to be given more importance. Since the candidates will be wearing masks, practise while wearing one and speak at an appropriate volume so that the examiners can hear you.
Get your children to learn the proper pronunciation of words and make them practise to articulate it well.
Listen to how native speakers speak. You can find online videos and resources to help you with that.
Another idea is to get English audiobooks for your children and a physical copy of it too. Ask them to listen to the audiobook and practice reading along. It can help in practising for most aspects required for the oral exam.
The speed of reading is vital too. Make sure it is not too slow or too fast. If you’re too slow, you would appear not fluent, and if you’re too fast, you might make mistakes and mess up the pronunciation or articulation. Constant practice can help them master the speed of their speech and maintain the correct rhythm.
Ask your child to evaluate himself regularly
It is a good practice to keep a journal and make notes of the progress at the end of each day. Ask your young one to identify strengths and weaknesses and work on them.
Record your child reading and speaking and play it to him. If they make a mistake, tell them to note it, and they can focus on correcting it the next day.
Speak in proper English as much as possible (not Singlish!)
Encourage them to engage in conversation with friends and other willing people in English. You can help them form study groups for the purpose and have regular conversation practices as preparation. Also, if you are good with the language, talk to them in English, whenever you are with them. Ensure that the use of language should be as precise as possible, with as few Singlish interjections as possible. This is highly important.
Read more
The conversation component of the examination will require your children to hold a proper conversation with the examiners on different topics based on a visual stimulus. The best way they can prepare for it is to read more. The more they read, the more ideas and thoughts they have. This can help in improving their grammar, use of vocabulary terms, and help them to express themselves better by framing more precise sentences.
Mock Sessions
You can make a list of topics for conversation for your child and choose one at random every day for them to practise. Ask them opinions on things happening around them, about their interests, hypothetical situations, and so on. Hold mock exam sessions regularly. It would be better if someone other than the parents can handle their sessions. It can help children get out of their comfort zone and simulate the exam condition closely.
The stimulus-based conversation session will require students to think on their feet and often make quick decisions. These sessions can help them become familiar with similar situations and also help speed up their thought process.
Confidence is key
Even if your child has a good understanding of grammar, pronunciation and knows how to speak well, they will not perform well in their examinations if they are not confident. Again, practice is the way towards that. Encourage them and try to motivate them in their efforts. Recognising and appreciating their efforts and progress can be great confidence boosters for them. Make sure they know that you support them and are proud of them. It can improve their morale and help them in performing well in the tests!
It is also important to keep a close watch on your children’s health and well-being during this period. Make sure they get enough sleep, are eating well, and exercising.
We hope these tips help you and your children. Wishing your children all the best for the exams! 🙂
Exam Smart Tips
Exam Smart Tip #1 – How to Encourage Our Kids to Speak Better?
Exam Smart Tip #2 – How to avoid carelessness?
Exam Smart Tip #3 – Establishing Routines!
Exam Smart Tip #4 – Let’s Read Carefully!
Exam Smart Tip #5 – Beating the Exam Fever!
Exam Smart Tip #6 – How to Eat Right for the Exams?
Exam Smart Tip #7 – How to Avoid a Meltdown?
Exam Smart Tip #8 – Taking Stress out of Tests
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